The Season is HERE!! SERC #1, Florida

Florida in March always hurts. Our race season starts there every year and it is a rude awakening. First, it is way warmer than what we are used to; especially this year. Second, the Florida racers have been racing all winter and they are FAST. Third, the trails there are so different than anything that we race here. Those factors all add up to a painful but fun start to the season.


Mark, Helen, Amanda, Emily, Star and I all decided to head to FL to get the punishment over with. What a great weekend!! And we did okay. We even had a podium appearance....


Friday afternoon Helen, Mark and I loaded up the car and started the journey south. Star was already in FL vacationing so she was meeting us there. Amanda and Emily were driving from Knoxville Saturday morning. After a quick stop in Dalton to see Shane at Bear Creek Bikes and pick up Star's bike, we were off. Slowly. Nothing like trying to get through Atlanta at 6pm on a Friday... Other than traffic it was an uneventful trip. The highlight was Mark's "culture dance" at a shady gas station in south GA. The next time you see him, ask him to do it....


We slept in Saturday and then it was off to the course. Florida racing is so different than anything we have here. It is FLAT, twisty and fast with short STEEP hills. Think BMX through the woods. It is really fun, but definitely not our forte. Helen, although being from Florida, has not really done any of that type of riding. It was a challenging pre-ride with a number of spectacular tumbles. There was no re-injuring of the shoulder but she is significantly more bruised than before. The race was going to be hard but after some assessment, Helen decided that she could do it. She is so determined. Most people would not have been racing unfamiliar trails with a "still slightly separated shoulder" three weeks post injury.


Emily, Amanda and Star all arrived at the hotel by dinner time and we had an AWESOME pasta dinner that Helen's mom Sharron sent along for us. THANKS SHARRON. You are awesome. After dinner is was off to bed to try and get some sleep. We had a short night because of the time change so 6:30am came really early.

Sunday morning we were all a bit nervous but also excited. This was it; the first real race of 2009. It was sunny and a bit chilly and we were ready to go. Helen raced first and we all cheered loudly. Not only did she race faster laps than she though she could, she finished with a smile, ending up in 6th place. Great job!!!

Amanda, Emily and I lined up in a very stacked pro/expert field and hoped for the best. It was a FAST start and we all held on for dear life. After a little bit I found myself in second, right on the wheel of first. Shelly Allen was leading and she is always so talented on the bike. She lives in Florida and there is no one better than her on tight twisty trails. Just when I was feeling pretty studly for staying with her for so long I slid out in a turn and lost contact. After that the gap never got any bigger but it never got any smaller either. I ended up finishing second, about a minute down to Shelly. What a great day. I came into the race feeling like I didn't really have any race fitness; to be able to finish so strong in such a talented field was great.

Emily also had a killer race, setting a couple of personal bests. First, she was the first expert rider to finish in the combined field and was 6th overall. Second, she beat her dad, something she has never done. She has been working really hard all winter and it is paying off.

Amanda finished 7th in her first ever expert race. Amanda is a kick butt Cat 2 road racer but until recently has done very little mountain biking. This year is going to be a learning experience but she is off to a killer start. GREAT JOB!!!!!

Star lined up in the sport race on a trail that put her completely out of her element. First, she is an endurance racer so this "short" cross country stuff is always tough. To top it off, it was flat with steep power hills. All things that she hates and is NOT built for. She rode a great race and never gace up. She took 8th and had fun challenging herself. We are proud of you Star.

It was a LONG drive home. It always sucks driving home after a race but 7 hours really really sucks. We got home at about 11pm and immediately passed out. What a great way to start a new season.

Thanks for reading...